Movies You Made: “Blood of Man”

March is Movies You Made month at Go Into The Story where we feature the work of some independent filmmakers.

Today: Blood of Man.

Production notes from writer-director-producer-editor Ben Watts:

My short film, Blood of Man, was an official selection of the Atlanta International Film Festival last year and is now available online. After raising funds on Kickstarter, we shot with an all-local cast and crew in my hometown of LaGrange, GA, shooting only with natural light for the majority of the production. We did everything they always tell you not to do on a low-budget: make a period piece, employ child-actors, and work with picture cars.

Synopsis: Charlie, a compulsive liar, and his older brother, Neal, do their best to fend off the boredom that comes with summertime in a sleepy Southern town. One day, they decide to take a shortcut through the woods and soon realize that they’re both going to have to grow up a lot faster than they thought.

CAST
William Harrison — Neal
Cooper Guy — Charlie
Canon Kuipers — Donnie
Adam Boyer — Hank
Faith Dillon — Liza
Lesley Warren — Mary Lee
Diane Wright — Margaret

CREW
Writer/Director/Producer/Editor: Ben Watts
Director of Photography: Phillip Briggs
Composer: Shelton Breeden
Associate Producers: Kate Watts, Sean Burke, Stephen & Leah Watts
Gaffer: Robert Bryce Milburn
Key Grip: Alphonso Whitfield
1st AC: Daniel Reed
Steadicam OP/2nd AC: Jarrett Morgan
Location Sound: Ben Farthing, Kurdice Neal
Production Coordinator: Amy Stephenson
Grip: Joshua Bowen
PA: Kevin Stephens
Set Photographer: Amanda Guy

While planning to shoot with only natural light is great for budgetary concerns, it leaves you reliant on the weather, and, as luck would have it (I should have guessed, being summertime in Georgia), we got rained out every morning we filmed outside — and did what anyone would have to do in that situation: adapt. Shot-lists got cut in half; elaborate set-ups were sidelined in favor of more simplistic ones; equipment got ruined. But, as is the case with any production, the audience will never know any of your struggles. The only thing that matters is the finished product, and whether or not you left an impression. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Here is the 20 minute film Blood of Man:

I asked each of the filmmakers in this month’s series to answer this question: What inspired you about this particular story to make it a movie? Ben’s answer:

I’m drawn to the notion that, whether we realize it or not, there’s a definitive event in our lives that changes us — fundamentally, down to the core. Call it “coming-of-age” or the “loss-of-innocence”. Our eyes are open to the truth of the world around us, and there’s no going back. That’s what I tried to capture in Blood of Man; I wanted to tell a morality tale that was deeply rooted in the Southern tradition I so admire, but more importantly, I wanted to explore the idea of two brothers coming of age at the same exact moment, how a simple decision on a hot, summer day could effect their lives forever.

Ben’s website here.

Blood of Man Facebook page here.

Drop by Comments to give some feedback on Blood of Man.

Tomorrow: Another Movie You Made.

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